Why are groups doing whole albums of cover tunes?

Allen - Lande? When did they ever record a cover album ... or Iced Earth for that matter?

Edited by MikeEnRegalia - December 06 2007 at 16:12

I think it's mainly that they're out of ideas or desperately need money in a short amount of time. i still have yet to hear a cover album that i've really liked. 

rushfan4 wrote:   I think that the main reason that bands are doing this is strictly commercial.  Whether it is to fulfill a final album on a record contract, or because the record company sees that all these other bands are doing it quite successfully so this band should do it too.  I think that it is an interesting marketing tool as well.  If a band does a cover of a well-known song and it gets some radio play, it might appeal to fans of that well-known band and thus bring in new fans to the band playing the cover song.   .

the irritating thing is that  a lot of people think that it is the original version and the djs don't let them know that it is a cover. the worst instance of this i remember is when the ataris did "the boys of summer" and nobody knew who don henley was. that also happens a lot in rap when they sample their beat from a classic song.

I used to hear the cover song of "the boys of summer" at the gym every so often since they pretty much play the same recordings repeatedly, but their recordings don't announce who are actually playing the songs, so I never knew who that actually was doing the cover.

Most of the time it is the record company who demand it. Record companies are of the opinion that albums with songs which are familiar will sell better.

Some are quite good - Dub Side of the Moon, for example.

Being a musician my self daydreaming about a musical career and a number of albums I would like to do a cover album myself and to do it tastefully, to show the respect the artists who influenced my life and promote them...and the show to the (imaginary) fanbase what is going on and where are the roots of my ideas.

Certif1ed wrote: Some are quite good - Dub Side of the Moon, for example.

oh my god, that album is brilliant! Who wooda thunk that Dark Side of the Moon was the perfect album to make a reggae cover of?




and this is just a guess, but by Allen - Lande, does markosherrera possibly mean Jorn Lande? Because he released a couple albums this year with cover songs, previously unreleased songs and different versions of songs he had already done etc...

sean wrote: I think it's mainly that they're out of ideas or desperately need money in a short amount of time. i still have yet to hear a cover album that i've really liked.

damn....  campaigning for the chairman of the PA's Cynic's Committee are we....


some times groups just want to be a bit of homage to their heros and infuences... don't know many starving unknown artists doing cover albums...  or record companies producing them.  Record companies are not exactly known for taking the finanical concerns of a group into interest.... if they are struggling.. and sales are down.... they get the frickin boot.  People aren't buying albums like they once did....  who is going to buy a cover album by a band on the way down...  record companies know the answer... very very few. the fans of the group.

Most bands who do.... have the leverage to do so... both financial.. for these albums are for the fans.. and fans alone... and creatively.. again.  because the record company knows.. these albums are for the fans.. and the fans alone.


Edited by micky - December 07 2007 at 19:00

Dick Heath wrote: Easy All Stars' Radiodread (covers of OK Computer) almost works as well as Dubside, but a couple of tunes don't hold it.